Fields of Research

Biochemistry and cell biology
Epigenetics (incl. genome methylation and epigenomics)
Central nervous system
Cellular nervous system
Cell development, proliferation and death
Developmental genetics (incl. sex determination)
Genome structure and regulation
Systems biology
Regenerative medicine (incl. stem cells)
Autonomic nervous system
Neurology and neuromuscular diseases
Gene expression (incl. microarray and other genome-wide approaches)
Genomics
Neurogenetics
Cancer cell biology
Proteomics and intermolecular interactions (excl. medical proteomics)
Animal cell and molecular biology
Genomics and transcriptomics
Beverage chemistry and beverage sensory science

Research Objectives

Expanding knowledge in the health sciences
Clinical health
Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Expanding knowledge in the biomedical and clinical sciences
Diagnosis of human diseases and conditions
Treatment of human diseases and conditions
Other health
Prevention of human diseases and conditions
Neonatal and child health
Health related to ageing
Expanding knowledge in the mathematical sciences
Control of pests, diseases and exotic species in terrestrial environments

Career Best Publications

Research Publications

Drosophila intestinal stem and progenitor cells are major sources and regulators of homeostatic niche signals; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America
A KDM5-Prospero transcriptional axis functions during early neurodevelopment to regulate mushroom body formation; Elife
Active transcription and essential role of RNA polymerase II at the centromere during mitosis; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America
Cell-type-specific profiling of gene expression and chromatin binding without cell isolation: assaying RNA Pol II occupancy in neural stem cells; Developmental Cell
Cell-type-specific profiling of protein-DNA interactions without cell isolation using targeted DamID with next-generation sequencing; Nature Protocols
Chromatin state changes during neural development revealed by in vivo cell-type specific profiling; Nature Communications
Contrasting roles of condensin I and condensin II in mitotic chromosome formation; Journal of Cell Science
damidseq_pipeline: an automated pipeline for processing DamID sequencing datasets; Bioinformatics
FlyORF-TaDa allows rapid generation of new lines for in vivo cell-type-specific profiling of protein–DNA interactions in Drosophila melanogaster; G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
Graphical Design of Primers with PerlPrimer; PCR Primer Design. Methods in Molecular Biology
Identification of an interaction between SOX9 and HSP70; F E B S Letters: (Federation of European Biochemical Societies)
Maintenance of cell fate by the polycomb group gene sex combs extra enables a partial epithelial mesenchymal transition in Drosophila; G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics (Bethesda)
Molecular mechanisms of SOX9 action; Molecular Genetics and Metabolism
Neocentromeres; The Kinetochore: From Molecular Discoveries to Cancer Therapy
Neocentromeres come of age; PL o S Genetics
Neocentromeres: new insights into centromere structure, disease development, and karyotype evolution; American Journal of Human Genetics
PerlPrimer: cross-platform, graphical primer design for standard, bisulphite and real-time PCR; Bioinformatics
Profiling Protein–DNA Interactions Cell-Type-Specifically with Targeted DamID; Methods in Molecular Biology : Chromatin Methods and Protocols
Putative CENP-B paralogues are not present at mammalian centromeres; Chromosoma
Stem cell niche organization in the Drosophila ovary requires the ECM component Perlecan; Current Biology
Stem cell proliferation is kept in check by the chromatin regulators Kismet/CHD7/CHD8 and Trr/MLL3/4; Developmental Cell
The architecture and evolution of cancer neochromosomes; Cancer Cell
Three-dimensional localization of CENP-A suggests a complex higher order structure of centromeric chromatin; Journal of Cell Biology
Transcriptional repression of Myc underlies the tumour suppressor function of AGO1 in Drosophila; Development (Cambridge, England)
Understanding the impact of ZBTB18 missense variation on transcription factor function in neurodevelopment and disease; Journal of neurochemistry
United colours of chromatin? Developmental genome organisation in flies; Biochemical Society Transactions

Research Projects

A genome-wide analysis of the epigenetic control of learning and memory; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Chromatin State Changes in Intestinal Stem Cell Ageing; The Royal Society (TRS)
Imaging to overcome dementia; Ian Potter Foundation (IPF)
There and back again: understanding the epigenetic remodelling that turns glia into glioma; National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Research Candidate Supervision